Suchergebnisse

It is argued that the transnational social coalitions that have emerged contesting free trade in the Americas exhibit exclusionary practices, especially in the marginalization of women's movements. In the trade area, women's movements face technical issues that are typically a male domain, & may not engage their grassroots base. In support of this hypothesis, this case study analyzes the evolution of a gender & trade transnational issues network with the 1980s onset of the Canada-US Free Trade agreement, highlighting the barriers women encounter in trying to link gender & trade issues. Anti-North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) coalitions in the US did not particularly espouse women's concerns & the Mexican women's movement had little influence on anti-NAFTA networks there. Since NAFTA, the gendered impact of liberalized trade has received greater attention, eg, at the 1990 World Trade Organization protest in Seattle & at the Santiago & Quebec City protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The recent development of the International Gender & Trade Network, a cooperative effort among 7 regional women's networks, is described. References. M. Pflum

It is argued that the transnational social coalitions that have emerged contesting free trade in the Americas exhibit exclusionary practices, especially in the marginalization of women's movements. In the trade area, women's movements face technical issues that are typically a male domain, & may not engage their grassroots base. In support of this hypothesis, this case study analyzes the evolution of a gender & trade transnational issues network with the 1980s onset of the Canada-US Free Trade agreement, highlighting the barriers women encounter in trying to link gender & trade issues. Anti-North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) coalitions in the US did not particularly espouse women's concerns & the Mexican women's movement had little influence on anti-NAFTA networks there. Since NAFTA, the gendered impact of liberalized trade has received greater attention, eg, at the 1990 World Trade Organization protest in Seattle & at the Santiago & Quebec City protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The recent development of the International Gender & Trade Network, a cooperative effort among 7 regional women's networks, is described. References. M. Pflum

This chapter explores the coverage of recognition of professional qualifications by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and a range of bilateral and regional trade agreements. It also provides a brief overview of what has been achieved to date in professional recognition internationally and the contribution that trade agreements might provide in increasing the transparency of professional recognition across borders. It also offers some preliminary thoughts on the relationship between cross-border education, recognition of professional qualifications and quality assurance in higher education. (DIPF/Orig.).

The question of whether international environmental agreements, particularly the Kyoto Protocol, conflict with established global trade law is addressed. Aspects of the Kyoto Protocol that could obstruct international trade are discussed. It is contended that multilateral environmental agreements could possibly be incompatible with the World Trade Organization's (WTO) rules that govern the placement of constraints on "like products." Various policies & measures of the Kyoto Protocol that could conflict with WTO law are identified; specifically, it is noted that trade-related environmental measures pose particular problems for current WTO law. An analysis of European Union law & North American Free Trade Agreement law revealed fewer incompatibilities with the Kyoto Protocol. Additional attention is dedicated to exploring the failure of the 1969 Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties' capacity to mediate incongruities between the Kyoto Protocol & extant bodies of international law. Multiple recommendations for resolving these incompatibilities are offered. J. W. Parker

"The European Union (EU) is a key player in international trade relations with its foreign trade policy having a great influence on shaping the international political economy. EU trade policy, however, is equally shaped in response to the trade policies of other actors. Especially EU-United States (US) trade relations are crucial to analysing the EU as a global power in the making. Since the mid-1990s, the EU has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs) with several emerging markets. The first FTA accomplished was with Mexico; its latest FTA concluded was with the Republic of Korea. What drives the EU to accomplish FTAs with some emerging markets and not others? To explain this puzzle a liberal or societal approach will be proposed including two explanatory variables. The first variable draws attention to the global economic context within which EU foreign trade policy is rooted thereby highlighting in particular US-EU competition in trade. The second variable focusses on economic interests dominant in the domestic politics of EU member states. This will be illustrated by a short analysis of the EU-Mexico FTA." (publisher's description)

The informal trinational alliance of social movements & non-governmental organizations in Canada, Mexico, & the US around international trade matters is analyzed. The evolution of the anti-free trade movement through the Canadian-US Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), & the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) proposal is traced. Within this diverse alliance, working groups of trade unions, women's networks, & others met frequently, while national coalition meetings were less common. While the trinational alliance did not succeed in blocking NAFTA, it did open international trade debate to public scrutiny & strengthen civil society's potential to participate in these debates even as government officials sought to minimize public involvement. The alliance showed that transnational cooperation could serve the ends of intelligence & leverage. The involvement of the trinational alliance in the two Porto Alegre World Social Forums is described, illustrating the longevity of the participating groups & their ability to involve youth. New challenges & new tasks for trinational alliances in the face of FTAA, World Trade Organization initiatives, & aggressive US security & foreign policies are discussed. References. M. Pflum

"In the second chapter, Anke Dahrendorf deals with a risk that can easily be called a global one. She examines the proliferation of bilateral agreements in the sphere of trade regulations and asks to what extent this development - both source and consequence of the standstill in multilateral trade negotiations (Doha-Round) - has to be considered a threat for the main multilateral institution in the field, the WTO. Serious weakening or even a breakdown of the WTO could indeed be qualified as a global risk. Given the global economic Integration and interdependence, in short: globalisation, inability to find viable means of regulation and/or the breakdown of existing regulation can affect the whole world economy - a lesson that we have learned only recently in the different but related financial crisis. But Dahrendorf's chapter points to a second set of risks, namely those faced by developing countries who are usually partners to the bilateral trade agreements. For the area of intellectual property protection, Dahrendorf argues that the threat to the WTO is quite limited, whereas the problems of developing countries are significant, ranging from the undermining of their policy space and the exploitation of their dependence from international trade to adverse agreements largely benefitting industrialised countries. It is interesting to note, as Dahrendorf suggests, that public/ academic awareness seems to focus much more on the risk for the WTO (e.g. end of multilateralism, spill-over effects) than on the risks for developing countries which are difficult to assess at this point." (extract)

A novelist uses the metaphor of "persistence of vision" to ruminate on memory, migration, & citizenship as a French-Canadian migrant to Australia. Issues of language & identity are brought forth in observations about growing up in Quebec with an English-speaking father & French-speaking mother at the time the language laws went into effect. J. Zendejas

A novelist uses the metaphor of "persistence of vision" to ruminate on memory, migration, & citizenship as a French-Canadian migrant to Australia. Issues of language & identity are brought forth in observations about growing up in Quebec with an English-speaking father & French-speaking mother at the time the language laws went into effect. J. Zendejas

"Modern trade unions act in two arenas: the state and politics on the one hand, and the labour market and collective bargaining on the other. The relative importance of their economic and political activities differs between countries and world regions, as well as historically and between types of unions. So do the way and the extent to which union action in the two arenas is coordinated. The dominant kind of trade union as it emerged from the second postwar settlement after 1945 no longer claimed a right or reserved the option to overthrow the governmnt of the state through a political strike. In this they paid tribute to the superior legitimacy of free elections as compared to 'direct action' of the organized working class. Today more or less explicit constitutional law makes it illegal for unions - within the limits of usually complex legal rules - to strike in the context of disputes with employers and in pursuit of collective agreements on wages and working conditions." (excerpt)

Assesses how circumstances generated by the North American Free Trade Agreement have impacted gender regimes & raised political consciousness among women in Chiapas, Mexico, & the US-Mexican border. Information was drawn from research on globalization's potential to prompt social change in/among women; arguments about how women move from powerlessness to political awareness; & S. Sassen's (1996) concept of strategic sites of globalization. The conflict in Chiapas represents a confrontation between subsistence agriculture & the forces of globalization. It is shown that gender regimes were changed by the role of women in the Chiapas grassroots army where women make up a third of the force & are accepted as generals/military leaders. An examination of conditions along the US-Mexican border addresses the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras; sexual harassment; & the emergence of political resistance by women concerned with such injustices as poor working conditions & the pregnancy test requirement for employment. It is concluded that globalization creates diverse gender regimes that have the potential to change the gender order of the entire society. J. Lindroth

Globalization & subnational disintegration are both indicative of the changing role for the nation-state in societal organization. Globalization undermines the nation-state's ability to make & enforce laws & policy, & complicates its culture. Global institutions now expand their authority at the expense of the nation-state, eg, the North American Free Trade Agreement. Global cities such as Hong Kong & New York display the exaggerated effects of globalization & are often in conflict with the nation-state & its citizens due to the coverage/non-coverage of citizenship law. Within this situation, regional & ethnic autonomy movements can draw power from global cultural & economic ties. Proposals for city-states to influence global activity are advanced, including allowing localities to lobby international organizations, foreign nationals to obtain local citizenship, & nondomiciliary voting in the localities. 26 References. M. Pflum

Global & regional trade agreements have huge potential impacts on higher education around the world by promoting the commodification of higher education & its incorporation as an industry in the world trading system. Provisions for higher education in the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade & the General Agreement on Trade in Services within the World Trade Organization are reviewed. The higher education industry has become increasingly important to the economy of the US & other countries & public higher education is increasingly subject to the rules of international trade. Trade liberalization helps other advanced countries to challenge US predominance in higher education. Among the barriers to trade in higher education are lack of student mobility, national licensing constraints, & visa & material restrictions. The emergence of new institutions (for-profit & corporate universities) & new delivery methods, eg, Internet-based learning, are discussed. Opposition to globalization may offset trade liberalization in higher education as well as in other industries. 1 Table, 61 References. M. Pflum

Global & regional trade agreements have huge potential impacts on higher education around the world by promoting the commodification of higher education & its incorporation as an industry in the world trading system. Provisions for higher education in the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade & the General Agreement on Trade in Services within the World Trade Organization are reviewed. The higher education industry has become increasingly important to the economy of the US & other countries & public higher education is increasingly subject to the rules of international trade. Trade liberalization helps other advanced countries to challenge US predominance in higher education. Among the barriers to trade in higher education are lack of student mobility, national licensing constraints, & visa & material restrictions. The emergence of new institutions (for-profit & corporate universities) & new delivery methods, eg, Internet-based learning, are discussed. Opposition to globalization may offset trade liberalization in higher education as well as in other industries. 1 Table, 61 References. M. Pflum